Aguilera, Timberlake aging well / Sexy, soulful show in Oakland

Published 4:00 am, Monday, June 9, 2003

Christina Aguilera performs at the Oakland Arena on Friday June 6, 2003. Her concert is part of the Stripped Justified Tour with Justin Timberlake. (AP Photo/Jakub Mosur)

Christina Aguilera performs at the Oakland Arena on Friday June 6, 2003. Her concert is part of the Stripped Justified Tour with Justin Timberlake. (AP Photo/Jakub Mosur)

Photo: JAKUB MOSUR

Aguilera, Timberlake aging well / Sexy, soulful show in Oakland

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Facing a screaming Friday night audience in her black leather dominatrix overcoat, Christina Aguilera summed up the hopes of teen-pop icons everywhere with a simple statement.

"I'm 22 years old now," she told the crowd packing the Arena in Oakland. "I'm grown up." Cheers shook the arena. She grinned, adding, "Thanks so much for growing up with me."

Aguilera and 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake, co-headliners on the Stripped/Justified tour, have indeed grown up and out of their teenage stardom, when pre-sexual ballads were enough to send millions of young fans into record-buying hysteria. Those fans have now barreled into post-adolescence, and their icons are determined to come along for the ride.

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Of all the pop kids struggling to climb on board the twentysomething bandwagon, Aguilera and Timberlake have enjoyed the most success. Sales of Aguilera's "Stripped" and Timberlake's solo debut "Justified" don't match those of their teen peak, but they're still in the double-platinum range, and in the media their comely faces and bodies are ubiquitous.

Timberlake's new rough-edged, soulful rent-boy persona and Michael Jackson- influenced R&B has sent several generations swooning; Aguilera's new hard-core homegirl image and hip-hop soul vocals have made her pinup queen for the Maxim- reading public. Rolling Stone just dubbed their road show "the sexiest tour on earth."

Live, the two stars don't measure up to their neo-sophisticated images. They do throw their hearts into their performance, though, courting fans with the fervor of "American Idol" finalists. And Friday's near-capacity audience -- ethnically and culturally mixed, straight and gay, composed mostly of young women, with a healthy smattering of men -- rewarded them with appreciative shrieks.

Aguilera opened her 80-minute set by emerging from what appeared to be an industrial jungle gym to deliver her hit single, "Dirrty."

Beginning with a torso-baring black ensemble, a shock of dark hair exploding from the back of her head, Aguilera made multiple costume changes as she morphed from '80s-damaged Cher impersonator to classic torch singer. A five-piece band and eight dancers followed her lead.

The stage props were embarrassing. Among them: a spark-shooting motorcycle for "Can't Hold Us Down"; a tiny chain-link fence for "Make Over"; and a giant portable "X" (for Aguilera's nickname, X-tina) during a rocked-out "Genie in a Bottle" with the singer spread-eagled across it like a crucified cover girl.

Lamentably, the gratuitous frippery drew attention from Aguilera's surprisingly powerful voice. Running through tracks from "Stripped" and a few older favorites, she reinterpreted "Come on Over (All I Want Is You)" as acoustic soul and delivered a funky solo take on her ensemble hit, LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" (off the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack). She did justice to Etta James' "At Last" and closed with a torchy version of "Beautiful."

Timberlake can't match Aguilera's vocals and his dancing slides when it should snap, but he knows how to work his considerable sex appeal. Starting his 80-minute performance by sliding down a pole (oh, the delicious symbolism) for his sinewy disco single, "Rock Your Body," he played off his eight dancers with a randy, boyish sensuality that sent his fans into ecstasy.

"Scream!" Timberlake commanded mid-song. As if he needed to ask.

After greeting the masses with a jocular "Whazzup, Oaktown?" he offered funked-up takes on the 'N Sync hits "Gone" and "Girlfriend" before concentrating on his "Justified" repertoire, including a night-topping breakdown of "Like I Love You." A nine-piece band (including a horn section) and four backup singers added live spontaneity to the produced numbers, particularly on the Latin-tinged "Senorita."

But really, it was all about Timberlake in all his boycake beauty. Switching from one athletic suit to another and occasionally exposing buff biceps, he crooned along to a piano for "Still on My Brain" before leaping atop said instrument to dance in a shower of fireworks. Revisiting 'N Sync's gravity-defying live antics, he used a wire to swing from an elevated platform (wearing an oddly seedy trench coat and hat) for "Cry Me a River." He even moved over the crowd on a trembling crane to show his beat-boxing abilities during an extended musical dialogue with his DJ.

The night's most surprising moment involved the slightest of props. Timberlake whipped out a guitar to accompany his fragile drawl on "Take It From Here," and yes, he knew how to play.

Timberlake and Aguilera just want respect and viable adult careers. They know their fans have grown up and they are eager to let those fans know that they've grown with them, and they'll do what it takes -- strip, dance with fireworks, even play a guitar -- to prove they can go from ephemeral stars to lasting artists.

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